Daily Yellowstone journal., 1887-03-15
NORTHWEST INDIANS
What the Alberta Journal would
Have Done with the
Nomadic Tribes.
Calves Which are to a Greater
Number Killed by In
dians than Wolves
The Wandering Indian.

The wandering Indian is becoming
nuisance OF the worse kind, not only
ID he source Of trouble tO the white
usn but he ID the cause Of untold
misery 10 himself, for II is a well
known fact that intercourse with the
whites drgrades the Indian and is the
means Of spreading misery for genera
tions.
What 10 the use OF reserving thou
sands Of acres Of the best land ia the
country for their sole use and occupa-
ton, ii they are allowed to wander all
over the country killing cattle and
breaking into houses, In the absence of
the owners, and stealing whatever
they can lay hands on. Complaints Of
cattle killing are almost Of every day
occurrence, when of the reserve they
must kill cattle or starve for they draw
no rations, and IL was only the other
day that we heard Of q house being
broken into and $65 saddle stolen.
The owner on his return finding his
house open and the trail OF q travois
leading way from II, followed the
trail some distance when IL went blind,
the Indian took good care Of that, he
Of course could not identify the Indian
so there the matter ended. If the
Indians are TO be allowed to roam
ut will what Is the use of the reserves
why not throw them open to set
tiers. Within eight days Of Calgary
is tract of land six miles wide by
eighteen long, watered by one OF the
- ,Sratt;.ot oraaks in tho ann .t, a m "A aa..
tanning hundreds of acres Of splendid
hay land. This tract 10 devoted TO the
exclusive use of q tribe which barely
numbers one hundred bucks, whose
proximity to the ranchers and farmers
renders IL an easy matter for them to
annex calf on moonlight nights. A
good many calves are supposed to be
killed by wolves. but, in the neighbor-
hood OF which we speak, most Of those
put down to wolves are killed by In
dian "huskies" set on by Mr.. Lo him
self. Only last week an Indian was
caught setting his dogs on to pull
down q calf but managed TO escape be.
fore our informant could lay hands on
him.
This sort of thing should be stopped
and the only way 10 do II Is TO give the
mounted police power 10 arrest any
Indian found off the reservation with
out special pass. We believe all In
dians that are off the reserve now
are supposed to have passes, IL
SO the agents must be kept pretty
busy signing them and should
u law go into force COMPEL.
ing them ~ remain ON the reserves, IL
would no doubl be great relief to the
agents who would then have them in
control. Some people will cay that 1t
is not right to confine the poor In
dians to q reserve. why is IL not right?
Do not the government feed them.
have they not the very best land in
the country. II they would only work
IL? They cannot wait TO 20 of the re.
serve TO hunt for there Is no game to
hunt, at least not In the part of the
country they frequent, No, II is better
to follow the American plan and keep
them on the reserves or remove them
farther from civilization.
We are no advocates for breaking
treaties, but why not try the plan that
has worked 90 well at the Belksnp
agency, Montana, cell the land for the
benefit of the Indians, use the money
In feeding them properly and give
them q reserve farther removed from
the whites. The Belknap Indians are
satified with the bargain they made
and are cheerfully preparing to move.
Some change must be made here and
the sooner the government attends to
the matter the better.-Alberta Stock
Journal.